The December 31st closure of the American Legion’s only Children’s Home was decided by our Board, the 20 members of the American Legion of Oklahoma’s Board of Directors.
- This is not the same issue ALCH experienced with DHS this past summer.
- That issue was resolved and they have a secure contract for this fiscal year.
- 44 children will be without a Home and 30 others + 65 jobs lost.
- The other 25,000 Legionnaires in our state have hardly heard of this abrupt decision and those that have are outraged.
- The only American Legion Children’s Home in this nation is financially stable and self-sufficient:
- 90% of their funding comes from the OKDHS.
- Individual American Legion Posts and Units in Oklahoma do donate to the Home but provided less than 3% (less than three percent) of the $3.4 Million budget for last year.
- None of the funding is received from the Oklahoma American Legion Headquarters. The Children’s Home is NOT a line item on their budget.
The American Legion Board claims that the children are a liability- The Children’s Home provides liability insurance for the Officers and Board of Directors.
The American Legion Board claims that ALCH children are not all veteran’s children- There are children at the Home who are not known to be descendants of veterans and some of them do not know who their biological parents are. However, a decision was made by this Board of Directors more than twenty years ago to also provide a Home to abused, deprived and neglected children. As with every other American Legion sponsored youth program, the Home serves America's children regardless of their family of origin, instilling in these kids a love of country and strong American values. However, many of them are from veteran’s families as preference is given to descendants of veterans.
